Nikita Mazepin has been accused of endangering the life of Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher by a pair of former racing greats.
The Haas driver has come under fire for a racing manoeuvre undertaken during the Dutch Grand Prix, which appeared to be particularly dangerous.
Mazepin and Schumacher were fighting one another for track position when he steered aggressively to the right, almost forcing the German - son of F1 legend Michael - into the pit wall.
Schumacher intelligently backed off and avoided damage, but the dangerous actions and rash decision of his team-mate was clear to see.
Both Ralf Schumacher - brother of seven-time world champion Michael and uncle of Mick - and 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg have since publicly condemned the actions of the hot-headed 22-year-old.
“Such action at high speed is life-threatening,” Ralf told Sky. “The team has to intervene. The risk he is taking does not suit his talent. Günther Steiner must intervene.
“Even if the money [from Mazepin’s father] is needed, the price can never be so high that you endanger the team.”
Rosberg, who was involved in a number of intra-team collisions with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes as the duo battled for world titles, also expressed concern with the actions of the Russian.
“If I were in a duel with Mazepin on a straight, I would be really scared,” the German said. “It’s not possible what he does there.”
After being forced to abandon a move in order to hit the breaks and avoid a crash, Mick is hoping - according to The Race - that Haas will sanction his team-mate after yet another example of his dangerous conduct on-track.
“I think it is okay to block but to a certain extent if I already have my front nose there, I think it’s a bit late to then swerve and then basically push me into the pitlane,” the 22-year-old said.
“I’m not the only driver he did that to today, so I’m sure that a few people will have a look at it, and hopefully that will have consequences for the future.”
Schumacher also suggested his team-mate was frustrated when he passed the Russian during the final Q1 out-lap, implying Mazepin’s dangerous actions in the race at Zandvoort were motivated by what happen
Mazepin is remarkably unaware of any wrongdoing, and insisted after the race that it was simply an example of ‘hard’ racing.
He was forced to retire from the race due to a hydraulic issue, and so did his media duties before Schumacher’s.
Formula 1 heads to Monza this weekend for the Italian Grand Prix - the final race of the triple-header that began at Spa for the aborted Belgian Grand Prix.
